Whitstable Town 3 Ashford Town 0
from Your Milton Keynes Correspondent
The score-line pretty much sums up this afternoon’s proceedings, and Ashford Town’s current position in the football firmament in general. We were comprehensively beaten today, against a young Whitstable team that was bottom of the league, and, what’s more, we were outplayed, particularly in the first half. There is no doubt that Ashford’s conquerors are currently among the very weakest sides in the division, since, prior to their last-minute victory in yet another relegation six-pointer, on Tuesday, Whitstable had lost twelve of their previous 14 games, drawing the other two. What was especially disappointing about today’s pasting was that it came on the back of two very encouraging away performances against teams from higher up the table, in Chatham Town and Burgess Hill Town.
This was billed as being the second match in a series of three consecutive “six-pointers”, including the game at home to Walton Casuals last Wednesday, and the “return” game against Whitstable at The Homelands next Wednesday – although the postponement of the Walton game in mid-week means that we are down to just the two head-to-heads with The Oystermen, provided that the pitch is fit for purpose in a few days’ time. The six points in five games must have come as a huge relief to Manager Mark Munday and everyone at The Belmont, as they lift Whitstable out of the relegation zone – to one place above Ashford Town, in fact, who now sink to second-bottom, two points behind Whitstable, but with a game in hand.
This is all a complete contrast to the situation and atmosphere on my previous (and first) visit to this ground – that was on a Tuesday night back in February of this year, when the pre-match questions were: “Are we going to go top of the table tonight ?”, “When was the last time we were top of the league ?”, etc. The 4-1 defeat on that occasion turned out to be the first crack in the dam, after which it came to light that the players weren’t being paid, and ………. well, you know the story – and the consequence has become a season of struggle against relegation, such as we are seeing right now.
At least I had the opportunity to see The Belmont Ground in daylight this time – and it confirmed my impressions in February of it being a cosy and compact venue, squeezed into quite a tight space, deep in a residential area of Whitstable. The main stand is pretty unique. It’s of decent size, but there is no individual seating – just five large, wooden steps, which were actually more comfortable to sit on than they looked. On the opposite side of the pitch is what looks like a miniature bungalow, which houses the dressing-rooms, with the home side’s dug-out at the front. Next to this is quite a nice bar. Behind one of the goals is a narrow area of terracing, covered by an old-looking canopy, and there was a much smaller, but new, shelter behind the goal at the opposite end, which was the end that Ashford Town were supposed to be attacking in the first half.
The car park isn’t much to write home about, as it is a combination of grass and gravel, with the track leading from the road having pot-holes at regular intervals – but it’s better than having to park on the road, as we do for some away fixtures, and we were grateful for it. Today it accommodated Whitstable Town’s biggest home gate of the season – 195 – which, naturally, was swelled by another good turn-out of Ashford supporters, (who, as I’ve bleated about before, surely deserve better than was served up this afternoon).
There was no radical difference in personnel from the eleven brave Ashford soldiers that fought through the rain for 90 minutes at Burgess Hill last week. In fact, the one change was that Danny Lye was back this afternoon – and wore the captain’s arm-band – and Joe Fuller was absent, with a foot injury. That was the one change to the starting line-up, so it necessitated a change in formation, with Steve Lovell sending Ashford out in a 4-5-1 format. The cast, in position order, was: Darren Ibrahim in goal; a back four of Carl Harrold, Lee Hockey, Laurence Harvey and Steve Springett; a midfield quintet of Nick Smith, Danny Lye, Ryan Briggs, Ronnie Dolan and Mitch Sherwood; with Mark Lovell on his own up front. (I sometimes get the impression that Steve Lovell opts for a team formation purely on the basis of which members of his first team squad are available, but I’m not trained as a mind reader, so I won’t dwell on this further). On the bench, (which was utilised this time), we had goalkeeper Dan Mason, Bryan Pearce, Matt Newman (who missed the Burgess Hill game due to a bout of food poisoning), Dan Scorer and Sam Conlon. Paul Jones continues to be absent, due to what are being described as “under-carriage problems”.
A couple of interesting ex Ashford Town names in the Whitstable squad these days are Dan Tanner and Joe Hitchings. Whilst there was no sign of Dan at The Belmont today, Joe Hitchings put in a good performance – and it was actually nice to see him fulfilling some of the potential that he obviously had, as a sixteen year-old, when he was at The Homelands.
After last week’s soaking, and the generally wet weather in recent weeks, it’s nice to report that today it stayed dry – and it was also fairly still, so there was no breeze to affect the play – but it was a shade on the fresh side, so we are approaching the stage of the season when a match bulletin needs to incorporate a Pink Report. I’m pleased to say that our boys were all uniformly turned out in short-sleeved yellow shirts, laughing in the face of the elements – but it was the Lino on the near side who started the match wearing gloves, which must be the first instance of this in recorded history.
The game started with a chance for each team in the opening couple of minutes. Nick Smith went on a promising run down the left wing. He broke through a tackle on the edge of the area, before pulling the ball back to Steve Springett, whose high cross was cleared. Seconds later, at the other end, Darren Ibrahim half came for a cross from the Whitstable left, before thinking better of it and allowing it to pass over his head, and to the opposite side of the pitch. When the cross eventually came over from the far right, it found Tom Parker, whose shot went just over the bar. Into the fifth minute, and Darren Ibrahim was forced into making a good save. A shot from outside the penalty area by the home side’s much-touted Dan Wisker was heavily deflected, and fell into the path of Ben Smith, about twelve yards out, and just to the right of goal – but Darren did well to save with his legs. Lee Hockey headed the resulting corner clear.
Throughout the first half, it was Whitstable, in their red shirts, white shorts and red sockies, who passed the ball and kept possession. This contrasted with Ashford’s more one-touch approach to the game this afternoon – that means taking one touch and then giving the ball to the opposition ! Our best chance of scoring seemed, throughout the afternoon, to be from a set-piece, and, in fairness to the lads, they had enough possession in the opposition’s half to create plenty of such opportunities, but, whether it was due to a lack of quality of delivery, or a lack of presence in the penalty area, even this never really looked likely to happen. Lee Hockey had his chances to deliver long throws into the Whitstable penalty area, but with little joy.
Ashford had a promising free-kick situation in the 14th minute, after a foul on Danny Lye, on the corner of Whitstable’s penalty area. Ryan Briggs curled his kick over the red defensive wall, but his effort was headed clear, for a corner on the left, by Gary Sayer. Briggo went across to take the corner, and played a one-two with Mark Lovell, who came short, in order to give himself a better angle for a cross – he eventually found Lee Hockey, who was unable to direct his header. Two minutes later, the visitors had another free-kick, after Mark Lovell was pulled back by Stephen Lloyd, having latched onto a loose ball in midfield. This earnt Lloyd the only yellow card that Referee Neil Baker was to hand out this afternoon – but the free-kick was headed clear by the Whitstable defence.
The impressive Joe Hitchings tried a snap shot from well outside the area, which flashed across the face of goal, in the 19th minute, but The Oystermen went ahead just two minutes later. Lee Hockey headed a high cross behind for a corner, on the Whitstable left. As the resulting cross came in, the home side’s skipper, Sam Denly, met it on the run, and powered the ball into the net, with a bullet header. The Whitstable players celebrated the goal with all the enthusiasm that had marked their play – so there was no doubt that the team at the bottom of the league this morning was up for the fight. Going a goal down was also a pretty ominous development for Ashford, as they had managed to create precisely nothing up to this point.
Things briefly appeared to get even worse for Ashford, in the 25th minute. An ambitious shot from half-way inside the Ashford half was intercepted, about 20 yards out, by Dave Cory, who turned and stuck the ball in the back of the net – but he was well off-side, and the “goal” was ruled out.
On the half hour mark - by which time Ashford had abandoned the 4-5-1 format, and Nick Smith was playing alongside Mark Lovell in a 4-4-2 set-up – a Lee Hockey long throw did cause a flutter in the Whitstable penalty area, when it was met by a Danny Lye back-header, but the ball was cleared. In the 35th minute, Mitch Sherwood went on a good run through the central midfield area; he passed the baton to Nick Smith, on the left, but the Whitstable defence forced the ball out for a corner. Ryan Briggs’ cross, from the left, failed to find an Ashford head in the area, and the ball was cleared, for a throw-in. Lee Hockey delivered the ball into the penalty area, and it was again cleared, but only as far as Ryan Briggs, who was waiting just outside the area – Briggo dinked the ball back in, on the volley, but Laurence Harvey’s flicked header went straight to goalkeeper Kevin Fewell.
The home side was forced into making an unscheduled substitution, in the 37th minute, when right-back Gareth Cornhill had to be replaced by Dean Grant – and I can report that Grant was wearing gloves, so became the first genuine entry in the Pink Register for the season !
A minute later, Mark Lovell had a very speculative attempt at goal, when he turned and shot, from well outside the area, but his effort was always going well over the bar. (I don’t know how much our boys practice shooting in training, but their shots go over the bar more often than George Best’s elbow).
The writing was really on the wall once Whitstable had scored their second goal, in the 42nd minute. This, once again, came from a set piece, but the danger originated when Laurence Harvey was drawn across to the touchline to cover the left-winger, and didn’t quite get there. Young Laurence once again looked very comfortable at this level, but he did make one or two errors – which is only to be expected, at this stage of his career. On this occasion, the consequence was a dangerous cross into the Ashford penalty area, but Steve Springett did extremely well, facing his own goal, to nod the ball behind for a corner, on the right. The ensuing cross was swung in, left-footed, and then was either flicked on by a Whitstable head, or deflected from an Ashford head, at the near post. Anyway, the result was that the ball fell at the feet of centre-half Sam Denly, in a way that managers and players dream of – furthermore, he couldn’t have been in more space if he’d been a leper with a bell around his neck, but you have to say that the Oystermen’s skipper took full advantage of the situation, and smashed the ball into the roof of the net. So it was 2-0 to Whitstable, and two goals for Sam Denly, to add to the one that he had previously scored this season, against Tonbridge Angels in the League Cup.
Ashford did bounce straight back at the home side, in search of an all-important goal before half-time, with Mitch Sherwood making a good run down the left, and winning a corner. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, but Steve Springett could only loop his header over the bar. Then, with normal time in the first half almost spent, Lee Hockey launched another long throw into the Whitstable area, but Sam Denly showed his effectiveness in a defensive context, and headed clear. The final chance of the half, however, fell to the home side, in the second minute of injury time, when Joe Hitchings’ shot from outside the penalty area was deflected behind for a corner, on the right. This was slung in by Tom Parker, but Darren Ibrahim made a good catch. (Actually, it must be said that Darren looked very solid this afternoon, so, whatever the outcome of any post-mortem on today’s performance, blaming the goalkeeper simply isn’t an option on this occasion; in fact, he couldn’t be blamed for any of the three goals, and was to make at least one outstanding save in the second half).
So, as Mrs MKC went on a long, half-time hike to find the only toilets at The Belmont, my mind went back to a not dissimilar footballing experience on Tuesday night, when I paid my first visit to Stadium MK, and saw MK Dons lose 3-4 at home to Carlisle United. (I know, I know, I know – but I had the offer of a complimentary ticket, so what can a man do ?!). AFC Franchise were actually 0-3 down after 20 minutes, and I reflected, at the time, that it was just like watching Ashford Town, (except that, on Tuesday, there were two teams out there who couldn’t defend). I loved the chant from the understandably small band of Carlisle supporters, at the time: “Are you Wigan, in disguise ?”.
Back to the World of Dreams, then, and, having failed to string two passes together during the first 45 minutes, Ashford noticeably improved this aspect of their game in the second half – they also came out of the little bungalow with a renewed sense of purpose, (which was, after all, not much to ask). Just two minutes after the break, the lads won a corner, on the left. This was taken by Ryan Briggs, and his cross was met by the head of Danny Lye, but deflected off a Whitstable head, for another corner, on the same side – this was punched clear by Kevin Fewell. Lyesy then showed the other aspect of his game, when he gave the ball away in the centre circle – whereupon Joe Hitchings sprayed the ball wide, to Dan Wisker, who immediately attacked the penalty area, in the inside-right channel. Darren Ibrahim did well to come out and thwart him, diving at his feet.
Ashford created their one and only chance from open play in the 53rd minute, and it was no surprise that it was Nicholas Frederick Smith who was on the end of this, as he had looked lively throughout the game, and as likely as anybody in a yellow shirt to make an impact on the home defence. After latching onto a through-ball, Nick hit his shot well, but Kevin Fewell made an excellent save, palming the ball over the bar.
Whitstable’s third goal came on the hour mark, and was a demonstration of the quality that we let go when Joe Hitchings left the Club. Joe picked the ball up just outside the Ashford penalty area, and fed the ball through to “Whiskers”, who was just inside the area. After a challenge from Laurence Harvey, the ball broke to Joe, who was following up his initial pass, and he calmly slotted the ball past Darren Ibrahim, and into the corner of the net.
Right-back Carl Harrold responded with a pacy run down the right wing, in the 64th minute, which involved a long “one-two” with Nick Smith, but was rewarded with nothing more than a corner, which came to nothing. From the resulting break, Dave Cory, one of Whitstable’s survivors from their 4-1 victory back in February, picked the ball up on the half-way line. He turned, and, unhindered by a combination of Laurence Harvey and Ronnie Dolan, made progress towards the Ashford goal. He checked onto his right foot, but his shot was straight at Darren Ibrahim.
By the 67th minute, Steve Lovell simply had to do something, and, with absolutely nothing to lose, made a triple substitution. Basically, Steve did what many Ashford Town watchers have been calling for for some time – he got rid of the midfield, as far as he was able. Off went skipper Danny Lye, Mitch Sherwood and Ronnie Dolan, to be replaced by new signing Matt Newman, Dan Scorer and Sam Conlon.
If there is anything positive that can be gained from today’s debacle, it is that all three of these substitutes looked better than the men they had replaced. Sam Conlon is a striker from the Reserves, who is slightly built, but looked lively and intelligent up front with Smith and Lovell, in a three-man attack, and immediately seemed to have a good understanding with Dan Scorer – who doesn’t appear to be the most mobile, but looks to be a skilful player with the ball at his feet. Matt Newman, who comes to us from Tunbridge Wells, injected some energy into central midfield, and looks to be a good acquisition.
There were some good passing movements from the beaten visitors during the final quarter of the game, mostly down the left flank, and with Steve Springett as the lynchpin. One such move, in the 75th minute, ended with Ryan Briggs blasting a shot high and wide, from about 20 yards out, but it was at least encouraging to see Ashford actually creating the opening. Soon after, more good Ashford Town pressure resulted in a couple of Lee Hockey long throw opportunities; both of these came to nothing, with Sam Conlon shooting wide, after the second of these. In the 80th minute, another long throw from Hockey resulted in an attempt at a spectacular overhead kick by Nick Smith, but the effort went well wide.
Prior to this belated, and largely unexpected, pressure on the home defences, Darren Ibrahim had had his moment of glory, in the 70th minute. A snap shot from Joe Hitchings, from outside the penalty area, after a half-clearance from Ryan Briggs, seemed to be curling just inside the far post, but Darren made a flying, diving save to his right, tipping the ball wide, for what should have been a corner. It was a travesty of justice that Referee Neil Baker gave Darren no credit for this, as he awarded a goal-kick, but everybody else in the ground appreciated that it had been a fine save. This also gives me the opportunity to say that Neil Baker otherwise had a very fine game.
Nick Smith, who was certainly one man who never gave up trying throughout the entire 90 minutes, did some good work on the right flank, in the 86th minute, and won a corner. This was taken by Steve Springett, and it was an Ashford head that got on the end of his cross, but the ball was cleared off the Whitstable line, to preserve the home side’s clean sheet – only their third of the season. With 90 minutes played, Dave Cory once again led a break, and got the ball wide, to Dean Grant, with his gloves, on the right. The No.14 cut inside, but his left-foot shot was comfortably saved by Darren Ibrahim. As the game went into injury time, Ashford had another couple of corners, to bring their tally for the afternoon to ten, (compared with Whitstable’s five), but both were punched clear by goalkeeper Fewell.
Looking at results elsewhere today, to assess the sum total of the damage that was done in terms of the campaign to avoid relegation, there was a defeat for both Chipstead and Eastbourne Town, but Horsham YMCA got a valuable point away to Croydon Athletic – and it really does seem that two from those three teams plus Whitstable and Ashford will finish in the relegation places at the end of the season. Looking at the league table, we are a point clear of Chipstead, the bottom team, and two points behind Whitstable, but with a game in hand – but Whitstable, having been the only team with a worse goal difference than us this morning, now have a goal difference of -23, compared with Ashford’s -27 !
One possible glimmer of light for Ashford Town is that only five of our 16 league games, to date, have been at home – and our home form has certainly been better than our away form. We might also seek solace in the fact that, having failed to beat Whitstable at The Belmont, in three attempts, since their promotion to the Ryman League from the Kent League, we have beaten them in both games at The Homelands, by 3-1 and 4-0. Weather and ground permitting, we’ll have a chance to do so very soon, next Wednesday evening, but it’s hard to envisage how such a turn-around can be achieved, in such a short space of time, as there generally appeared to be quite a difference between the two sides here today.
Man of the Match
(to go towards the Milton Keynes Bowl)
Steve Springett
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